<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Crystal Walls by cheezit_babe</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252349">Crystal Walls</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheezit_babe/pseuds/cheezit_babe'>cheezit_babe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:48:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheezit_babe/pseuds/cheezit_babe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The crystal sculptures mounted to the walls were more than just sculptures. They held a secret power that would help humanity win against the Titans and set the world free. </p><p>At least that's what Eren's father always told him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eren Yeager/Original Female Character(s), Eren Yeager/Reader, Jean Kirstein/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Crystal Walls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eren would always deny it, but he loved staring at the crystal sculpture embedded in the main gate of Wall Maria. As did everyone else within the walls - stare in awe at the crystal wall mount that is. Walls Maria, Rose, and Sheena each had a sculpture at the entrance of their southern gates; all so beautifully crafted and carefully taken care of by the Garrison. </p><p>        Maybe that’s why Eren wanted to join the military. To be a part of the lucky chosen soldiers to go on their wires and clean the statues from dirt, rain, soot, and bird feces. It didn’t sound like an appealing assignment, but he’s always wanted to place his hand on the crystal statue. Would it be cold to the touch or warm from the sun’s rays? Is it dense or hollowed? It had to be hollowed out, people debated, there was no possible way a 15m crystal structure of a woman’s arms and upper body could stay bolted against the stone walls and not crack or break. That’s what Armin always inquires whenever he, Eren, and Mikasa stand under Maria's open arms. </p><p>        No one knew who had created the sculptures or how long it took to make them or how they were even able to obtain such a large amount of crystal. (Some criminals try to obtain chips and pieces of the wall mounts, but are always apprehended by the Garrison or slip and fall to their demise.) </p><p>        To the intellectuals to paid attention in school. The creation of the sculptures didn't make much sense. How were the first humans able to create such ginormous pieces out of a solid mineral while also battling the Titans and erecting the walls?</p><p>        But churchgoers and Wall Cultists quickly shushed them, proclaiming that the crystal women are goddesses send down by Heaven and preserved in crystal to serve as protectors. Even then, that idea was debated upon. As some ministers believed that the crystal wall mounts were created to intimidate and remind humanity of the horrors outside of the walls, like how gargoyles were perched at the entrances of religious buildings.</p><p>        To children, however, they believed that the sculptures were created after stories of guardian angels - kudos to the multiple bedtime stories and ancient rumored legends. As a child, Eren always insisted his father tell him the tale of the crystal wall mounts. Grisha's story was very much different than what the other children at Eren's school were told. His father had told him that the crystal statues were shells of three very powerful young women, slumbering in the head of the sculptures until the day they were to be woken up and fulfill their duty. "What's their duty, Mr. Yaeger?" Mikasa would ask quietly. "To protect humanity and lead us to victory." He would reply. </p><p>        Of course, the story got Eren teased and mocked while in class. Women sleeping in crystal? They'd be starving or dead by now! Defeat the titans? No way! They were safer behind the walls! But Eren always fought back - the hot-blooded brat. </p><p>        "I'm going to free them and go outside the walls!" Eren would proclaim, much to the chagrin of Carla and the silent amusement of Grisha. Eren was only seven years old with chubby cheeks and his nightshirt too big for him. Eren would have to wait till he got older before following through on his declarations.  </p><p>        Eren would always deny it, but he loved staring at the crystal sculpture embedded in the main gate of Wall Maria. No matter what his colleagues at school said or the piss drunk adult bastards, he loved knowing that just 15 meters above him, nestled in her cocoon of crystal was a sleeping girl that would save them. </p><p>        Armin and Mikasa worried that their friend was experiencing a power trip. They knew once he set his mind and heart onto something he would begin to compulsively obsess about that thing. The mountains of ice called tundras, the rivers of fire, the massive oceans filled with salt...The crystal wall mounts. Yes, Eren was obsessed, but for now, Armin and Mikasa amuse this childish bedtime story. Women sleeping in the crystal sculptures that have been embedded in the stone wall for over almost a century? </p><p>        Get real.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>        Disoriented…</p><p>        Vision blurry...</p><p>        An irritating ringing in her ears…</p><p>        All of her senses were on fire and she had a splitting headache. </p><p>        What could she smell? She smelled smoke and brimstone. Taste? The blood in her mouth. She was hearing blood-curdling screams? What was she feeling? Pain. Rocks, splinters, and glass were dug into her skin. She hissed and glanced down. A large piece of her crystal shell was embedded into her torso, blood pooling out and staining her white dress. Pain...this was something she hadn't felt in a long time. But why was she-</p><p>        She gasped. Her hands were small and tan with debris dug under the skin of her palms. She was...human again.</p><p>        The teen winced and looked down at the crystal impaling her. She gritted her teeth and pulled the shard out of her, the wound instantly starting to steam and heal itself, but it still hurt to move. She rolled onto her side, clutching the wound, and froze. Facing her was the crystal shell of her face...then it was confirmed. Maria was out of her crystalline form and had reverted to being a human, but it wasn't by her command. </p><p>        She craned her neck to the left and her golden eyes widened. There where she once stood and was told to protect was a busted hole. Sunlight and wind streamed through the breached wall, brushing the hair from her face. She rolled onto her stomach, still wary of her wound, and followed the trail of smoke and rubble to the culprit. Her jaw dropped and her brows furrowed.</p><p>        The Armored Titan shook dust and rock off its shoulders as it exhaled with a loud hiss, steam erupted from its mouth. Maria's eyes narrowed in confusion. That bastard was the one to bust through her wall and shatter her skin? </p><p>        But...why was the Armored Titan attacking Paradis? Weren’t they allies?</p><p>        Maria hissed again and gripped her forehead. All of this confusion was worsening her headache. </p><p>        The Armored Titan had disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the first breach of titans were poking their heads through the breach. Wall Maria was compromised and there was nothing she could do at the moment. Her organs were still stitching themselves together, she was abruptly awoken from her hundred-year slumber, and her vision was starting to go in and out again. She was tired and weak and there were too many Titans slipping through. Maria couldn't risk the chance of being eaten, not before saving her sisters. </p><p>        The teen grunted as she climbed to her feet and hobbled towards the loading dock. She stepped rocks and shards of her crystal but she couldn't care. She had to get out of here. She had to get to Rose and Sheena. Maria had to get to her sisters.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>